The B.C. government may soon be looking at the possibility of increasing the tobacco purchase age in that province from 19 to 21, according to published reports.
Whether Alberta's NDP government will be making a similar move remains to be seen.
What is known is that with smoking-related disease continuing to be one of the leading causes of deaths in Alberta - and with many smokers starting their habits in their late teens - any discussion of ways of preventing young people from taking up the habit in the first place is probably worthwhile.
For his part, B.C.'s health minister says increasing the tobacco purchase age could go a long way in preventing young people from becoming smokers.
"I think it's a great idea," Terry Lake said. "You look at cancer, heart disease, other vascular strokes, they're all related to smoking, I thought it would be worth starting the conversation about the age of smoking and what impact we could see of potentially increasing the age."
It is currently legal for any person 18 or older to purchase tobacco in Alberta.
Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health in Alberta, says the Notley government should take a hard look a raising the legal age to 21.
"The evidence shows that it is a good age because it gets it out of high schools," said Hagen. "The vast majority of tobacco users start by the age of 18, so the more we can do to make it harder for kids to start before they reach that age, the more likely they are not to start to begin with.
"Smoking rates among Alberta youth aged 12 to 19 remain disturbingly high at 13 per cent. Alberta youth deserve first-class protection from the sale and marketing of tobacco."
Alberta was the last province in Canada to pass legislation to restrict youth access to tobacco products, he says.
The question now is should Alberta be a leader or a follower in this new tobacco purchase age debate?
Dan Singleton is the Mountain View Gazette editor
